Philadelphia Eagles called for ‘disconcerting signals’ penalty

Stop me if you’ve ever heard this one before: the Philadelphia Eagles were flagged on Thursday night for a “disconcerting signals” penalty.

The penalty came when the Eagles apparently mimicked the Bengals’ snap count as Cincinnati was preparing for a field goal attempt during the fourth quarter of their 34-13 win.

Disconcerting signals is just a fancy term for the defense trying to replicate the offense’s calls by mimicking the quarterback’s cadences. The penalty falls under the category of unsportsmanlike conduct, and results in 15 yards.

It is defined as “words designed to disconcert an offensive team at the snap,” in Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1 of the NFL rule book, per the Tampa Bay Times.

The Colts were penalized for “disconcerting signals” in 2010, and the Buccaneers were hit with it earlier this season against the Saints. Anti-Cowboys fans will love this too: Dallas complained about the Redskins doing it last year.

Eagles fans probably found the penalty quite fitting; the team’s entire 4-10 season has been disconcerting.